UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The anticipation for the 2012 Nittany Lion football season continues to build, with Penn State students purchasing more than 21,000 season tickets this week to again sellout the student section at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State students also pushed men's basketball student season ticket sales 10 percent ahead of last year's total and joined the Student Nittany Lion Club during this week's sale.

Penn State's proud and enthusiastic student section in Beaver Stadium is the nation's second-largest full season student ticket section of any school, for any sport. ESPN's College Gameday and ESPN The Magazine ("The Nation's No. 1 Student section") are among the national media accolades for the Nittany Lions' loud and impactful student section.

Penn State students will welcome Coach Bill O'Brien and his first season as head coach starting September 1 vs. Ohio (12 p.m.). The Bobcats are the first of five bowl teams from 2011 that will visit Beaver Stadium this fall, with Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Temple also venturing into the Lions' den. Also visiting this season are Navy on Sept. 15 for Military Appreciation Day and Big Ten Leaders Division rival Indiana.

Penn State's student ticket exchange will become available in August. Please check www.GoPSUsports.com/studentcentral for the exact dates in July. The student ticket exchange allows students to post individual game tickets for sale and/or forward tickets to other students.

Public season tickets are available for the 2012 season. For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium and group tickets for the Ohio, Temple and Indiana games, fans can go to www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets or call 1-800-648-8269 (1-800-NITTANY) weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The pricing of 2012 Penn State football game tickets and accompanying donation levels is the same as in 2011.

Penn State returns 35 letterwinners and 10 starters for the upcoming season, as well as 16 players that have starting experience. The 16 additional players with starting experience have a combined total of 77 among them.

Penn State Athletics is on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pennstatenittanylions) and Twitter (http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/twitter.html).